Jazz Clubs in Manhattan

Bob Egan has written a nice post about the location of jazz clubs in NYC. I’m posting here in case his server quits for posterity. It is amazing how these clubs were really organically the first floors of homes, a few chairs, all beside one another. #history https://www.popspotsnyc.com/jazz_clubs/ Locations of Jazz Clubs in New York … Read more

The Oculus Quest 2 is amazing

…and feels like where we sat at the beginning of smart phone revolution when the iPhone 1-3 were released between 2007-2009. Just the start. Extremely excited for VR, which I believe is the next logical ‘screen’ to arrive at after the supersized OLED phase we are in now. WebXR (which streams immersive experiences) / 360 … Read more

Minimalist – Watch Design

Watch Design - Alwin

Posting some of my other work / experiments in watch design… This is more of a study to learn about the curvature of lugs, bevels etc. Less a work than the learning the process right now.

Strange Loops and the responsibility of Art

One concept that I’m pondering is the act of bringing people along… in the same referential frame. An unfinished idea currently..   In my mind’s eye, I see sort of a drivable bus on a rollercoaster type image. On the bus, what the driver sees is for argument’s sake, exactly what the passenger can see. … Read more

What do you personally think dark matter is? Random guesses

Most people take issue with speaking about things they are not qualified to discuss, but apparently I am lacking this better judgement :) The result of which is just being wrong…  Posting some wild speculations to the Quora question: What do you personally think dark matter is? Alwin: Just finished reading the the book 4% … Read more

Intricate geometries on spacetime’s rubber sheet

posted this question on Quora: https://www.quora.com/q/astrophysics1/What-unusual-geometries-on-the-Reimannian-rubber-sheet-of-spacetime-exist-according-to-general-relativity What unusual geometries on the Reimannian ‘rubber sheet‘ of spacetime exist according to general relativity Hello Astrophysicists, a very specific question for you. It seems that the Reimannian ‘rubber sheet’ model of spacetime is useful in describing phenomena that we observe. Some examples below. vanilla gravity: curved spacetime given … Read more

#thoughtoftheday – A commonality between chess and life

It’s interesting to note that in #chess, like life, a player can have ample material but not enough time (tempo) to win or succeed. This is common in a chess game where the player with less material emerges ahead It’s an interesting but not entirely identical feature, shared characteristic between the two. (Chess games have … Read more

This couple from the bus…

It was an honor to stand behind this couple.. they were holding hands the whole time I saw them and clearly loved each other from their simple gestures. Because of their fragility, they navigated the world in a way that made our world seem Barbaric. They were dressed in absolutely pressed and formal clothing, and … Read more

Aim for the Third Frame

I’ve been thinking about the concept of a shared frame of reference as the beginning of all understanding between 2 disagreeing parties. Is agreeing on axioms and shared perceptual frames the only way to start connecting and speaking meaningfully about something usually subjective? Noticing that people usually who speak from a subjective ‘I’/my frame, may … Read more

Royal KMM Typewriter – User Manual (PDF)

Love my Royal KMM.. (as many of you know, or could easily guess). Here is the user manual, years from now, maybe this one of the extant redundant copies. Royal KMM Typewriter – Manual (PDF) Cheers’

Updated: New Photo of the Village Vanguard (2018) on Wikipedia

My apologies for the slow uptake on writing, it has been forever and much has changed. Nearing the end of the work-to-live ‘day job epoch’ and hopefully will enter the ‘creative freedom epoch’ within the next couple years. Uploaded another pic of the Village Vanguard to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_Vanguard. Enjoy!

Marriage of Libraries + Bookstores into…

With the decline of both libraries and bookstores. It makes sense to consider that: 1. Lifelong learning and retraining of skills is more important than ever 2. Bookstores often are burdened by bricks and mortar (ie. rent) for an otherwise favorable public good 3. Libraries suffer from low user bases and are becoming obsolete in … Read more

Catharsis in Art and its similarity to heat transfer

I’m amazed at how humans know when something is heartfelt/emotional and how others remarkably respond to it. When a person speaks sincerely, through whatever mechanism, we tend to understand that person all the more through an emotional lens versus, just an intellectual one. I suspect part of the reason it is so fun to watch … Read more

Photo of the Village Vanguard

A photo taken of the Village Vanguard has been up for several months now on wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_Vanguard About as sweet as the sound of Coleman Hawkins in Body and Soul.

Seismology and Market Prediction

The phenomena of both earthquakes and the stockmarket. working thesis, the dynamics which make both unpredictable is the same. A buildup and unsustainable unbalancing phase followed by the crash portion. An unlocking. A lot of people would use that analogy as obvious, but take it one step further. Can seismologist just study financial charts as … Read more

UltraMeta: Life Affirmation

This is an extremely ‘meta’ post about life and happiness. But with that said, perhaps a hard won truth. Without being too ‘abstract’ about it: Above the basics needed, the expression of courage is what brings happiness to life. It is why having kids, or giving to charity, climbing everest or making something beautiful is … Read more